Travel and Expense
Stitching Europe together: SAP Concur builds a rail network without borders
On a map, Europe’s rail network looks seamless. In a booking tool, it has always been rather fragmented. A traveller going from Zurich to Marseille has traditionally needed two tickets from two different operators, usually booked through two separate channels, often outside the company’s travel programme. This is not only inconvenient for the traveller but can also cause issues regarding a lack of booking visibility. For business travel, that has been reason enough to choose the plane, even for seemingly short distances.
Rail travel is one of the most challenging aspects of business travel, especially when crossing borders. Much of the problem lies in the booking process. Each operator has its own content, licences, points of sale and ticketing rules. SAP Concur is addressing this complexity together with Trainline and is expanding its rail booking platform in Concur Travel.
Paul Dear, VP Concur Travel EMEA at SAP Concur, says: “We're building the market-leading rail platform for business travel in Europe. With more carriers and self-service capabilities for travellers along the booking process coming next year, rail stops being a nice-to-have for travellers and becomes a firm, bookable option that companies can enforce in their travel policy.”
At GBTA + VDR + ABTA Europe Conference in Vienna, SAP Concur is showcasing what its rail network delivers and what is planned next.
From Paris to Zurich to Vienna: ÖBB now integrated in Concur Travel
With GBTA Europe taking place in Vienna, the integration of the Austrian rail operator ÖBB couldn’t be more fitting. It is the most recent addition to the European rail network in Concur Travel. Since the Trainline partnership began, rail carriers from five European countries have been integrated: UK Rail (via Trainline), which includes all UK rail companies, SBB, Renfe, Iryo, SNCF and ÖBB.
Concur Travel supports rail travel across Europe in three ways:
- Domestic rail: Travellers can search for, book, pay for and manage journeys within each of these countries, including carrier-specific features such as split ticketing and seat mapping in the UK.
- Inbound rail: Travellers arriving in Europe from outside the region can pre-book onward rail travel before departure rather than organising it on arrival.
- Cross-border rail: Rail segments from different operators combine into a single itinerary and booking through Journey Stitching. Each leg is still operated by its own carrier, but the whole journey is booked, managed and visible in one place.
For companies, this means more routes they can offer their travellers, more rail bookings kept within their travel programme, and better visibility of employee journeys. The results are already visible: in the UK, rail bookings in Concur Travel doubled within a year after the platform move in February 2024.
SAP Concur expands its rail network in Concur Travel.
AI Makes Rail Booking Faster and More Personal
Integrating rail carriers into Concur Travel is a major step towards easier rail travel for business. Newly available AI features enhance the solution's capabilities even further, making rail booking simpler and more personalised at every stage, from the first search to the final choice.
The following features are now available:
- AI-assisted station search: Travellers can now quickly find the right train station, even with multilingual or misspelled queries, or when searching by city or landmark.
- “Best trains for you” recommendations: A new section in rail search displays the connections most likely to meet each traveller's needs, based on criteria such as shortest duration, fewest changes or lowest price.
Full Rail Self-Service and network extension upcoming
Concur Travel already allows travellers to book, cancel and pay for rail itineraries in one place. Next, the solution will allow for changing travel times, exchanging tickets for another day and requesting partial refunds.
Upcoming carrier additions will expand existing markets and bring new countries into Concur Travel. The next integration will be Trenitalia, which is currently in pilot. Once live, it will add Italy as a new country. Trenitalia France, a subsidiary of Trenitalia, comes with it by default, adding a second major operator on routes such as Paris to Lyon. With BeNe Rail on the roadmap, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands will be added into Concur Travel, with more details to follow as plans progress.
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